True Friends

Once upon a time, there were two close friends who were walking through the forest together.
They knew that anything dangerous can happen any time in the forest. So they promised each
other that they would always be together in any case of danger.

Suddenly, they saw a large bear getting closer toward them. One of them climbed a nearby tree
at once. But unfortunately the other one did not know how to climb up the tree. So being led
by his common sense, he lay down on the ground breathless and pretended to be a dead man.

The bear came near the one who was lying on the ground. It smelt in his ears, and slowly left
the place because the bears do not want to touch the dead creatures. After that, the friend on
the tree came down and asked his friend that was on the ground, “Friend, what did the bear
whisper into your ears?” The other friend replied, “Just now the bear advised me not to believe
a false friend”.

Fox and A Cat

One day, a cat and a fox were having a conversation. The fox, who was a conceited creature,
boasted how clever she was. “Why, I know at least a hundred tricks to get away from our
mutual enemies, the dogs,” she said.

“I know only one trick to get away from dogs,” said the cat. “You should teach me some of
yours!”.

“Well, maybe someday, when I have the time, I may teach you a few of the simpler ones”,
replied the fox airily.

Just then they heard the barking of a pack of dogs in the distance. The barking grew louder and
louder – the dogs were coming in their direction! At once the cat ran to the nearest tree and
climbed into its branches, well out of reach of any dog. “This is the trick I told you about, the
only one I know”, said the cat. “Which one of your hundred tricks are you going to use?”.

The fox sat silently under the tree, wondering which trick she should use. Before she could
make up her mind, the dogs arrived. They fell upon the fox and tore her to pieces.
 The Ant and the Dove

One hot day, an ant was seeking for some water. After walking around for a moment, she came
to a spring. To reach the spring, she had to climb up a blade of grass. While making her way up,
she slipped and fell unintentionally into the water.

She could have sunk if a dove up a nearby tree had not seen her. Seeing that the ant was in
trouble, the dove quickly put off a leaf from a tree and dropped it immediately into the water
near the struggling ant. Then the ant moved towards the leaf and climbed up there. Soon it
carried her safely to dry ground.

Not long after at that, there was a hunter nearby who was throwing out his net towards the
dove, hoping to trap it in this way.

Guessing what he should do, the ant quickly bit him on the heel. Feeling the pain, the hunter
dropped his net and the dove flew away quickly from this net.

The Story of Toba Lake

Once upon a time, there was a man who was living in north Sumatra. He lived in a simple hut in
a farming field. The did some gardening and fishing for his daily life.

One day, while the man was do fishing, he caught a big golden fish in his trap. It was the biggest
catch which he ever had in his life. Surprisingly, this fish turned into a beautiful princess. He felt
in love with her and proposed her to be his wife. She said; “Yes, but you have to promise not to
tell anyone about the secret that I was once a fish, otherwise there will be a huge disaster”. The
man made the deal and they got married, lived happily and had a daughter.

Few years later, this daughter would help bringing lunch to her father out in the fields. One day,
his daughter was so hungry and she ate his father’s lunch. Unfortunately, he found out and got
furious, and shouted; “You damned daughter of a fish”. The daughter ran home and asked her
mother. The mother started crying, felt sad that her husband had broken his promise.

Then she told her daughter to run up the hills because a huge disaster was about to come.
When her daughter left, she prayed. Soon there was a big earthquake followed by non-stop
pouring rain. The whole area got flooded and became Toba Lake. She turned into a fish again
and the man became the island of Samosir.
 The Legend of Surabaya

A long time ago, there were two animals, Sura and Baya. Sura was the name of a shark and
Baya was a crocodile. They lived in a sea.

Once Sura and Baya were looking for some food. Suddenly, Baya saw a goat “Yummy, this is my
lunch,” said Baya. “No way! This is my lunch. You are greedy” said Sura. Then they fought for
the goat. After several hours, they were very tired.

Feeling tired of fighting, they lived in the different places. Sura lived in the water and Baya lived
in the land. The border was the beach, so they would never fight again.

One day, Sura went to the land and looked for some food in the river. He was very hungry and
there was not much food in the sea. Baya was very angry when he knew that Sura broke the
promise. They fought again.

They both hit each other. Sura bit Baya’s tail. Baya did the same thing to Sura. He bit very hard
until Sura finally gave up and went back to the sea. Baya was happy.
 The Lion and the Mouse

One day, a Lion lay asleep in the jungle. A tiny Mouse, running about in the grass and not
noticing where he was going, ran over Lion’s head and down his nose.

The Lion awoke with a loud roar and down came his paw over the little Meuse. The great beast
I was about to open his huge jaws to swallow the tiny creature when “Pardon me, O King, I beg
of you,” cried the frightened Mouse. “If you will only forgive me this time, I shall never forget
your kindness. 1 meant no harm and I certainly didn’t want to disturb Your Majesty. If you will
spare my life, perhaps I may be able to do you a good turn, too.” The Lion began to laugh, and
he laughed and laughed. “How could a tiny creature like you ever do anything to help me? And
he shook with laughter. “Oh well” he shrugged, looking down at the frightened Mouse, “you’re
not so much of a meal anyway.” He took his paw off the poor little prisoner and the Mouse
quickly scampered away. Some time after this, some hunters, trying to capture the Lion alive so
they could carry him to their king set up rope nets in the jungle. The Lion, who was hunting for
some food, fell into the trap. Her roared and thrashed about trying to free himself but with
every move he made, the ropes bound him tighter

The unhappy Lion feared he could never escape, and he roared pitifully. His thunderous bellows
echoed through the jungle. The tiny Mouse, scurrying about far away, heard Lion’s roars “That
may be there very Lion who once freed me,” he said, remembering his promise. And he ran to
whether he could help.

Discovering the sad state the Lion was in, the Mouse said to him, “Stop, stop! You must not
roar. If you make so much noise, the hunters will come and capture you. I’ll get you out of this
trap.” With his sharp little teeth, the Mouse gnawed at the ropes until they broke. When the
Lion had stepped out of the net and was free once “Thank you, good Mouse,” said the Lion
gently. “You did help me even though I am big and you are so little. I see now that kindness is
always worthwhile.”